Alex went for the Water Spells, giving him a Healing Potion yet again.

Scenario Background

Belorn’s Mine – "The Dwarves are expert miners, able to mine through even the toughest rock to reach the rich veins of gold and iron they seek. The Dwarven Kingdoms of old were built upon these valuable metals. Within the Halls lies Belorn’s mine, an ancient mine that was once the richest of all. Yet take care, for the mine has long since been abandoned and the tunnels are likely to collapse. Orcs often search the mines, hoping to find the gold that legend tells was hidden here in the last days before the Halls fell."

Image Courtesy ofWaterZero

Into the Gloom – With the Elf leading the way into the dim gloom of the musty shaft, he opted to head South, to a nearby door. As the door creaked open the rattling of bones and the murmurs of a Mummy could be heard beyond the entrance. Aragorn stepped in and quickly pressed the Spirit Blade into service, vanquishing the Mummy in quick time. Maurice soon followed and the Skeleton was soon nothing more than a pile of bones.

Search Party – Maurice led the group ever southward, ignoring the western passage. As he picked up speed the roof began to rumble and the Elf was soon looking up to see a tonne of debris raining down from the shaft roof above. The Barbarian turned to see an Elven figure stagger out from a cloud of dust. He was wounded but ok. There was no sign of their Dwarven friend.

Forced to go it alone the Barbarian and Elf rounded the next corner and almost walked into an Orcish Scouting Party. With a glean in his eye, Isaac rolled up the sleeves of his Muscle-man and swung his sword, leering all the while. The look on Alex’s face suggested he was more than happy to be behind his dim-witted friend in the narrow mine shafts.

Meanwhile Riley was desperate to find a way to reach his companions and tore down the western passage that the party had ignored earlier. In the distance he could hear the sound of metal on metal. Not once but twice did the roof collapse, but the Dwarf muttered a curse or two before charging on, gritting his teeth and fearing the worst.

Following the sound of battle he soon came upon the rear of the Scouting Party and was happy to see he had not missed on the fun entirely, taking care of a Goblin and Orc. With his adversaries fallen, he looked up to see a proud Maurice standing atop a pile of bodies that included 2 Orcs, a Firmir and a Goblin.

A Hasty Exit – At this point it was obvious that the lads were nervous about the unstable nature of the mines. They had suffered few wounds in truth by the time the Scouting Party was put to rest, but the sight of the exit door was too much for the jittery Elf and he was off. Before his companions could catch up the roof had caved in again, making the Elf go on solo. As he reached for the exit door handle, he turned to see a Skeleton shambling towards him. The battle was short lived and he was out of Belorn’s Mine in quick time. Isaac and Riley were forced to go the long way round and Riley soon triggered a rock fall that isolated the Barbarian and he too was forced the long, long way home.

But the boys were resolute and refused to open doors with only 2 of them remaining. Thankfully for them the passages were now mostly empty of trouble, no doubt due to the volatile roof structure and they were out and home without too much fuss.

In all, the Dwarf was down to 3 health, the Elf 5 and the Barbarian 4.

Post Game Thoughts - This session took place some 6 months ago and was on the back of two adrenaline fueled quests in ‘The Great Citadel’ and ‘The Eastern Passage’. These were hard fought adventures that tested the boys severely and I think it had the effect of scaring them into finding the exit as quickly as possible.

From the game’s point of view, this mission appears to offer some lighter relief compared to those prior Quests and perhaps it was done to change the timing and pace of the action. The reality however is that this Quest is largely a fizzer. There are some nice elements with the Scouting Party and there is a trapdoor that joins two distant rooms (which the boys never found).

But really this adventure is all about the Falling Rocks and the potential for the party to be split. The trouble is that even if this occurs, the passageways offer too few dangers to give the Quest any edge.

This is a classic example of a Quest that needed to have something found in order to exit. This would force the heroes to explore the rooms and open doors.

May 2018 be all you dreamed it would be and be all that you dreamed...

ronster0 wrote:

It's awesome to see these reports again. Always a great read!

Cheers Ron. This was a simple one given their general cowardice. We played another one yesterday and will play the final one for Kellar's Keep before the week is out so 2 new Session Reports should be up within 2 weeks.